Central Station expansion

rail bosses are looking at ways of expanding the station capacity - maybe I'm being a bit naive here, but if the escalators had to be stopped due to the number of people on the platforms its not the capacity of the station thats the problem, but the frequencty of services.

rail bosses are looking at ways of expanding the station capacity - maybe I'm being a bit naive here, but if the escalators had to be stopped due to the number of people on the platforms its not the capacity of the station thats the problem, but the frequencty of services.

Deprived of its unique dockland waters Liverpool
becomes a Venice without canals, just another city, no
longer of special interest to anyone, least of all the
tourist. Would we visit a modernised Venice of filled in
canals to view its modern museum describing
how it once was?

PLANS to revamp Liverpool?s run-down Central station have received crucial government support.

Transport minister Lord Adonis agreed to look at options to redevelopment the underground interchange, which handles 40,000 passengers a day.

Transport authority Merseytravel was furious when it emerged Network Rail did not submit ?20m refurbishment plans for Central and James Street stations to the Office of the Rail Regulator last year.

The organisation claimed not enough passengers used the city centre hubs.

But after visiting Central station during a trip to Merseyside yesterday, Lord Adonis backed Merseytravel, saying: ?Passenger numbers have risen very significantly in recent years and we need to look at options for investment.

?There are some things that can be done in the short term that is not particularly expensive.

?Significant work would have a significant price target and we would have to look at the options and look to see where we can get funding from.

He said: ?It is very good news the minister has taken the time to visit Central station by himself and have a look at the problems we are facing with the funding.?

He said the system was a ?victim of its own success? in attracting so many passengers, with 40,000 of the 100,000 passengers using the rail network each day passing through Central.

Merseytravel chairman Mark Dowd said due to increasing passenger numbers, seats had been removed from Central to provide more room for people to stand.

Lord Adonis spoke after officially reopening Sandhills station after ?6.7m of work.

Improvements include a new ticket office and booking hall, two new fully-enclosed waiting rooms, upgraded lighting, a new 38-camera CCTV system and a ramp and new lift to provide access from the street.

Liverpool Echo

Liverpool in Pictures/ YO! Liverpool has taken me over 10 years to develop and maintain.